


but the sun is still in the sky (and shining above you)

by dykenance (orphan_account)



Series: vld post-s7 fix-its [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Healing, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Picnics, Swearing, klance, rated t for ~suggestive~ content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26829847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/dykenance
Summary: “...but that’s how I know you’re home for me.”
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: vld post-s7 fix-its [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1844866
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	but the sun is still in the sky (and shining above you)

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone!!! finally here with my conclusion. i hope it's worth your time <3 once again, the song is 'chiquitita' by abba

“ _ Lance _ , what is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t said a word all day!”

“I’m fine!”

Allura munches on a fry. “That’s evident.”

Okay, so, maybe he’s been beaming down at his food as though it were spewing compliments to him with every bite. Maybe he’s been running over the events of the last twelve hours, and without realizing it, he’s been looking a bit loopy to everyone around him. He thought staying in his room for breakfast gave him enough time to calm down, but evidently, it did not.

Hunk confirms this, snorting as he says, “Yeah, dude, you look like you did when your mermaid girlfriend showed her face for the first time.”

_ Shit. _

“Uh, good dream,” is all he says, taking a bite from his plate.

Allura, Pidge, and Hunk all give him a look of disbelief.

“Dude, did you finally get laid or something?” Pidge says _far_ too loudly for comfort.   


Just as Lance’s jaw drops in retaliation, someone slumps beside him and he jumps. He glances to his side and sees a groggy Keith; unfortunately, against everything that Lance had pleaded for in those two seconds, he seems to have heard Pidge’s inquiry. He levels a look at Lance, who desperately attempts to communicate that he did  _ not _ suggest anything of the sort, but says nothing. He links his hands behind his neck and keeps his eyes trained on the table.

“Shut up, Pidge, you’re like, 12.” Lance glares at his cup of orange juice. “And nothing happened, anyway,” he responds in the most aggressive whisper he’s ever managed. “I’m just fine. No more, no less.”

Pidge sticks her tongue out, only proving her immaturity to an unamused Lance, as Allura mumbles into her cup, “That doesn’t explain you eye-fondling your food for the last twenty minutes.” Her face is all too smug. “There’s fine, then there’s that.”

An amused sound comes from Keith as he chuckles through his nose. His mouth is closed, but curved into a small smile.

“I,” Lance huffs, looking between all of his  _ supposed _ best friends. He’s trapped. “I’ll be back.” He stands with his still half-full plate, intending to charm the cafeteria lady into giving him some more fruit. 

Fruit. That would clear his mind.

What doesn’t clear his mind is Keith sidling up next to him. “What was that about?”

“Nothing, man, I already said that.” Keith raises an eyebrow, unconvinced, but resolves to pouring himself some more coffee. Lance can’t lift his eyes back up to the boy’s face as he continues, “I--really, I didn’t say anything.”

“Okay, good.”

“Good?”

“I mean, they’ll think I’m, I dunno, picking favorites among the team.”

Lance frowns. “Favorites?”

“I’m gonna need more than one word answers, buddy. I’m not a mind-reader.”

There’s no explanation in his mind as to why, but his heart is positively pounding on his chest, and his insides are cold, and maybe it’s that funny feeling called ‘anxiety’ coming in to ruin things but he sputters, “I thought we were--we were still friends, Keith, I didn’t realize this was all about the-- _ Voltron _ , or--”

“Hey, wait, calm down--” Keith says, and it’s all too damn condescending.

“No, you calm down,” he says back to the boy, who simply leans against the counter and sips on his coffee. So, okay, maybe he didn’t need to chill much, but that’s almost more infuriating. “I thought that maybe we were getting somewhere, I guess. I didn’t realize I was just your right-hand man.”

Keith sputters a little, then says, “It’s not that--”

“Well, I can’t be a stupid ploy in your politics, Kogane! And I definitely can’t stand in your way, huh.” Finally he meets the boy’s eyes, emboldened by his frustration.

“Lance, really, I didn’t mean it like that, it was just--”

“I mean, trust me, I’m used to the whiplash of people picking and choosing when to prioritize me, and when they can just--just drop me.” His breath hitches. “But I can’t take it from you.”

Keith’s face drops, but Lance doesn’t wait to hear anything more than the quiet, “Lance,” that falls from his mouth. He throws his tray away and decides to go for a walk.

At dinner, Keith is more chipper than usual, which gets under Lance’s skin a tiny bit. Perhaps unreasonably so. He doesn’t care; he’s been reasonable for a long, long time.

Allura tried to talk to him earlier, to figure out what had happened to make him stalk off, but Lance shrugged her off. She had looked concerned, really concerned, because they became each others’ confidants over time, and usually he would spill everything and they would eat ice cream and laugh it all off together. Just laugh at the fucking world together.

But he wasn’t in the mood to talk about it, mostly because he couldn’t figure out why he was so mad.

Maybe it was because Keith seemed to disregard a night that had meant a lot to him; he’d been thinking about it all day. Maybe it was that he was so nonchalant and Lance didn’t know how to be, despite being the more experienced of the two; or maybe it was because he  _ did  _ want to be someone’s favorite. Just for once.

Allura drops some of her dinner cookie onto Lance’s plate and offers a small smile, bringing him back to the world. He loves her. Like, a lot.

He mouths, ‘Thank you,’ and tunes into the conversation around him.

“I remember that cook at the mall… I miss that guy sometimes. I think we could have made some serious business together.”

Pidge chuckles. “I think you could open a restaurant by yourself, Hunk. You’re good enough for that.”

Hunk nods sadly. “Very true. But it was cool to have an apprentice. I mean, he was so interested.”

“I’ll be your apprentice, man. Or your partner. I could show you some of my mom’s recipes,” Lance says quietly, managing to lift his tired cheeks into a smile.

“That would be so good, dude. I think we should do it.”

“Let’s.”

“Let’s!”

They both laugh, then turn back to their plates, which are incredibly subpar to anything they could have made together. Oh well, that’s just mass-production.

“I always thought Rolo was cool,” Keith says, and Lance can’t help the sick amusement that lights up his features immediately. “Well, you know, until--”

“Oh, that was never subtle, captain,” Lance interrupts, “I just never thought you’d admit to having a little space crush like the rest of us.”

Allura’s brows pinch together. “He and Nyma helped us out a lot, so I suppose they made up for their original offense.”

“Not sure Blue is so forgiving.” Lance won’t look at Keith, he’s doing his best to not even touch elbows on the table, but that doesn’t mean he can’t instigate.

He can feel the boy turn into a ball of tension next to him. “It wasn’t like that.”

“But you have working eyes, right?” Lance ignores the feeling unfolding in his chest, taking up most of the capacity, compressing his lungs so that every breath feels like fire. He knows it all too well. “Or so someone once told me.”

“Lance, that’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever said. I mean it. You can  _ see _ that he has them, right? With yours?”

Lance only flicks his eyes over to Hunk for a second, a smug little smile planting itself on his lips. Keith’s reaction to his words makes him want more.

“I don’t blame you, dude, he was a nice-looking guy--”

“Lance,” Keith says between gritted teeth, “care to take a quick walk?”

Allura stares at Lance with wild eyes, and Lance just raises his eyebrows in response, rising from the table. She shakes her head and stabs her plate with a fork, which he knows means that he’s SOL if anything happens, and she’s probably going to poke fun at him in any kind of vent session. 

“Uh, we’ll be back.”

Keith silently leads him out of the cafeteria, through the gardens that shield a small courtyard outside, to a secluded spot beyond. It’s an extension of the courtyard, narrower, meant for few people. The small trees dotted with blooming flowers form a sort of dome, their leaves falling into a pond that sits next to an idyllic bench. A bench for two.

His mother might call it a loveseat.

Swallowing, walking, thinking, all become extraneous chores for his body. He tries to remember when he was upset, to get ready to bicker. He’s been waiting for this.

When Keith finally turns back to face him, it’s like breathing adrenaline.

He’s familiar with this sensation, way too familiar. And this time he’s eager to know what comes next.

“I’m not great at this, Lance,” Keith starts. It’s like they’re breathing in sync.

“Good way to sell yourself, dude.”

The way Keith looks up at him is golden. He could just kiss his dumb face right then.

Keith licks his lips, which is far too distracting for Lance, who follows every movement. “There were never any real ‘space crushes,’ or whatever, for me. Some people were attractive, I guess…” He keeps his eyes focused on Lance’s shoulders. “But I never stopped thinking about you.”

_ It’s always been you. _

“I didn’t always know how to deal with that. I still don’t. I’m scared of all these feelings. But you…” he trails off. Lance begs silently for him to never stop talking. “You somehow make that okay. I’m terrified of you, but I feel most...okay around you, too. It’s weird. But that’s how I know you’re home for me.” He swallows. “You know, you challenge me, and always keep me on my A-game, and I hope I do that for you too. But, ah, it’s okay if I’m not that for you. It’s fine. I don’t expect that.” One step closer. “I--I just had to tell you, and I’ll back off, but I’m really sorry that I hurt you before, and you have to know that if I had to pick favorites--”

Lance cuts him off, stepping close enough to feel each breath they share. One hand finds its way to Keith’s cheek, brushing across smooth, pale skin, and his thumb sweeps slowly along Keith’s bottom lip, dragging out a small gasp from his mouth. It’s everything he’s ever dreamed of, in the moments that he allowed himself to entertain the thought.

This boy; this stubborn, stubborn boy.

Lance meets Keith’s gaze, and he looks so vulnerable, so hooked, everything tender and hot stirs in Lance’s chest. 

He feels woozy. In a good way.

“You’re it,” Lance whispers, and he says it again as he pulls Keith to meet his lips, a string of burning light holding them together.

It’s all slow, unfamiliar intimacies buzzing with each touch. After a moment, with Lance cupping Keith’s face, pressing forward with all the warmth he can manage, Lance draws back to look at him.

Most of his first kisses have been a little awkward, followed up by nervous laughter and hand-holding. And it’s still awkward, a little weird--it always is. But Keith is practically glowing in the evening lights, and Lance takes a few deep breaths, and what overrides the unease of the moment is the notion that it’s been too damn long. It’s this addicting feeling of  _ finally _ .

And it’s Keith who kisses him again. Again and again and again. 

As Lance twists his fingers into Keith’s hair, hooks his hand up under his shirt, it registers that the boy hasn’t ever done this before; and he smiles as he tilts his head and moves his jaw slowly, guiding Keith, who sighs and digs his fingers into his shirt, pressing close enough to make them fall back against the bench, making up for every time over the years when they missed out, and Lance can’t help the moan that falls from his mouth, barely a breath against Keith’s lips. A string of curses and shallow breaths follow as they clamber onto the bench, a mess of tangled limbs and fingers colliding into one.

It’s hard to keep a straight face when they return to dinner, for that night and several following. They catch each other’s eye across the table and disguise smiles and distracted looks, sharing the same thoughts each time.

And they find each other in the evenings, using the excuse of walks to bring back leg strength so hopefully the others disregard them.

During one of their little excursions, while they lay protected among trees and boulders and a loud stream rushing past, their fingers lightly entwined together, Lance asks, “Do Shiro and Adam know?”

Keith chuckles, blending right in with the gorgeous twittering of birds flying above their heads - Lance can’t figure out what he did to get to be the one who hears it. “Well, they have their suspicions.”

“You haven’t told them, though?”

Keith shakes his head.

“I’m sure they do know,” Lance murmurs, bringing their connected hands down to his chest to hold with both. The boy looks at him, startled by the sudden movement, then grins. “I mean, that was before anything even happened…”

He’s looking at the sky, thinking about that morning with a shy smile on his face, knowing Keith is doing the same.

In a moment of evident confidence, Keith leans over and locks his lips with Lance’s. A surge of affection runs through his veins, and then he’s giggling, rolling over so Keith is beneath him. He pins the boy’s hands down, enjoying the dazed look that comes over his face, and then Keith pushes up just enough to connect again.

Lance pulls back, laughing in amazement. “Getting bolder, Kogane?”

Keith’s eyebrow flicks up. “Bolder than you, evidently.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

They’re back to holding hands, gazing up at the sky, sneaking glances until the other catches them with a teasing eyebrow. It’s the most alright they’ve been in a long time.

After about a week of this, Allura finally corners Lance, her silver eyebrows raised practically into her hairline. “You going to tell me what was going on the other day?”

“Don’t think I don’t  _ have _ to with that tone,” Lance says, but despite the defiant tone, a smile is already sneaking its way onto his face. “A ‘please’ might be nice.”

Allura squints at him for a moment, and then she smacks at his arm lightly, as stern as she’d ever be. “I’d like to be your gossip buddy again, idiot, but not if you’re going to lock me out of your life,” she says quietly, folding her arms. “I’m one of your best friends, and I love you, but I’m tired of this! I miss chatting with you.”

He squints back at her for as long as he can stand it, then breaks into a grin. “Okay, okay, fine. Um, Keith said I was his  _ home _ \--”

“ _ What _ ?”

“--so I guess he’s kinda into me, I wasn’t sure, cause we were fighting about favorites and stuff, but now we’re kinda hooking up and it’s so  _ good _ \--” to her raised eyebrows, he winks, “it’s really good.”

Allura transforms into a beacon of light in front of him. “Ah!  _ Lance! _ I’m so happy for you. Is he...is he as gloomy as usual?”

“Not at all.”

“But you guys still bicker.”

“Oh always,” Lance laughs. “But he actually smiles around me now, and…” his cheeks are piercing his eyes, “and he’s soft. He fell asleep on me the other day, and I swear, he’s just a big teddy bear. But you didn’t hear it from me.”

She nods at him. “I figured he’d be like that.”

“Really?”

She’s quiet for several seconds, her eyes wandering beyond him as she thinks. “Yes. He’s...I’ve only ever seen him loosen up around Shiro. Shiro and  _ you _ . So, obviously you made some sort of impression on him early on.”

Lance clams up, his heart throbbing in his chest, nonsense sputtering from his mouth in an attempt to respond.

“That’s really sweet,” he says eventually, and he feels awfully warm right then.

Allura rolls her eyes. “God, what a sap.”

“I get it from you.”

He runs into Keith later.

As he’s passing through the hall, he catches an exchange that he’d expect in some wild dream. He leans his back to the wall, a smirk pressing into his cheeks.

“Well, don’t you like guys, Kogane?”

“That’s not really your business, is it?”

“Don’t you ever get lonely?”

“I have friends, Griffin. I have to work with you, and that’s fine, but otherwise, leave me the hell alone.”

James stalks off past Lance, through the doors to the cafeteria. Lance pops out, sees Keith walking in the other direction, and runs up behind him, snagging his waist once he’s close enough.

“Lance!” he cries out, his voice about a million octaves higher than usual.

He cradles Keith close, pressing a kiss into his cheek. “So my replacement is James, hmm?”

Keith whips around, eyes narrowed. “Come on, is that really what you think of me?  _ Him _ ?”

“I mean, he’s not the  _ worst _ option, but you could definitely do better.” As he’s talking, grinning all the way, Keith is taking hold of his forearm, pulling him into a nearby supply closet.

The door shuts behind them. Keith pushes him back against it, and suddenly the fireflies have returned, fluttering through his head. He links their fingers slowly, stepping forward until the gap between them is closed.

“Hmm, pretty unprofessional for our leader to be doing this, Kogane.”

But the stubbornness doesn’t last long, as Keith leans in and interrupts him with a kiss. Fingers fumble against Lance’s shirt hem, and soon he’s stifling moans next to Keith’s ear, nails leaving scratches and frantic breaths getting lost in each other’s skin.

“Keith, I hate to say this, but I know we were right. You’re very obviously whipped.” Shiro chuckles into a bottled soda, shaking his head, fingers linked with Adam’s. He’s relaxing for probably the first time in years, laid out in the garden, classic Hawaiian dad shirt popped open against his chest.

Keith and Lance mimic Shiro and Adam almost exactly. They’d decided to visit Shiro and Adam after a brunch with Lance’s family, who were all incredibly enthusiastic and sweet to Keith. Sometimes Lance couldn’t stand all the love he had for them.

Lance bats his eyelashes dramatically at this moment, though, mumbling an, ‘Awh.’

“Don’t act like you’re any better, Loverboy,” Adam says, flicking his sunglasses up to look at him directly. “You should’ve seen your face when I gave you that letter in the hospital. It was clear then and there.”

“Oh, I wish I could have seen it,” Shiro laments, leaning back in his chair. “Whatever. I’m happy for you two. Go have fun.”

With a burning face, Lance spins on his heel and books it in the other direction.

“You liked it then?” Keith grins, snatching Lance’s hand back from his side. “Do you keep it under a pillow at night and everything?”

“I don’t wanna hear it, Mr. ‘Whipped.’”

Keith pulls him in for a quick kiss but says, “Shiro exaggerates things all the time.”

“Mhm. I’m not shocked, really, it’s okay. I’m a catch.”

“Can’t deny that one.”

Lance, for one, cannot wait to take Keith back to their found family, to reintroduce him as a companion. A proud boyfriend.

And he can’t wait for the future family dinners, where he could include Keith in old traditions he held close to his heart, and share all of the laughs and gleaming memories he always had with his family.

He was  _ definitely _ worth the wait.

**Author's Note:**

> ahhhhh ok so here's the end! i hope that wasn't too overwhelmingly fluffy lol. i wrote most of it during the first year of my first relationship - can you tell? (ps i know the fight is pretty dumb lol i can say as a teenager that teenagers are very dramatic a lot of the time sfjhgsd)
> 
> anyway, this feels like closure, like a goodbye to this series that i was sincerely fond of. i hope you all enjoyed and i appreciate all the love ive received!! youre all super sweet. ahhhh ok so god only knows if i'll ever pursue other fics here, but for now this is what i've got haha. y'all have encouraged me to revisit my love of writing though, so we'll see what i get up to when college isnt so wild. and i hope all of you are pursuing anything and everything you love as well <3 
> 
> in case any of you are interested, i do have some stranger things fics posted, and i'll have an IT one posted soon. also a goldfinch one-shot - idk how popular that really is sdfkjhgsfdg.
> 
> ok ok anyway thank you all again for being so kind to me !!! i hope this felt like a good follow-up for y'all <3 lmk what you think!
> 
> ps sorry for any strange spacing??? it was normal in my document but it may come out strange here, ill try to fix it if it does


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